Health System

Some essential chemotherapy drugs are in short supply for the first time in the United States, according to the October 3 New England Journal of Medicine.

The American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology Foundation have issued new guidelines for secondary prevention and risk reduction in patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease.

Liquid acetaminophen for infants is being shipped to hospitals and drug stores in new concentrations, even though manufacturers may not be providing notice about the concentration change, according to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently launched a new antibiotic tracking system, allowing hospitals to monitor their antibiotic use electronically.

FDA approved zolpidem tartrate sublingual tablets (Intermezzo, Transcept Pharmaceuticals) for use as needed to treat insomnia characterized by middle-of-the-night waking followed by difficulty returning to sleep.

Pharmacy association veteran Kathleen Jaeger will publicly advance the role of pharmacists in patient care in a newly created position with the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

Pfizer, Medco, and pharmacy groups are all battling to get their voices heard after a November The New York Times article raised questions about prescribing Lipitor versus Atorvastatin (the new generic form of Lipitor).

Patients using the relatively new blood thinner dabigatran (Pradaxa, Boehringer Ingelheim) failed to remain on the treatment 17% of the time after the first 4 months, increasing their risk of stroke, according to a new study.

Pharmacy and medical groups are suing the California Department of Health Care Services and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ recent approval of a 10% reimbursement rate cut in California’s Medicaid program.

The American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology Foundation have issued new guidelines for secondary prevention and risk reduction in patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease.

FDA has appealed the September 2011 ruling made by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in U.S. v. Franck’s Lab, Inc. The ruling had favored pharmacy compounding for veterinary patients.

FDA has approved aflibercept (Eylea Injection, Regeneron), known in the scientific literature as VEGF Trap-Eye, for the treatment of patients with neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration in patients aged 60 and older at a recommended dose of 2 mg every 4 weeks (monthly) for the first 12 weeks, followed by 2 mg every 8 weeks (2 months).

FDA approved ruxolitinib (Jakafi, Incyte) for the treatment of patients with intermediate or high-risk myelofibrosis (MF), including primary MF, post-polycythemia vera MF, and post-essential thrombocythemia MF.

FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, MD, announced the agency's decision to revoke the breast cancer indication for bevacizumab (Avastin), noting that the benefits do not outweigh the potentially life-threatening side effects, such as heart attack or heart failure, high blood pressure, bleeding and hemorrhaging, and the development of perforations in different parts of the body, such as the nose, stomach, and intestines.

FDA has approved bupivacaine hydrochloride injection, USP (Sagent and Strides Arcolab), a local or regional anesthetic, for use in surgery, dental and oral surgery procedures, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, and obstetrical procedures.

Pharmacists are in the perfect position to tailor drug therapies to individual patients and subpopulations using pharmacogenomic data, reported a white paper published online October 14 in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association.

In this section we showcase products and product news that ran up against space limitations or fell outside the parameters of recently featured categories in the print edition.

Children who are overweight or obese have 3 times as much risk of high blood pressure as children of normal weight have, reported a study published recently in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Vivus has resubmitted its New Drug Application (NDA) for Qnexa (phentermine/topiramate) to FDA.

FDA has approved deferiprone (Ferriprox, ApoPharma) to treat patients with iron overload resulting from blood transfusions in patients with thalassemia who had an inadequate response to previous chelation therapy.

Readers speak out about the importance of pharmacy techs, vaccine programs, and changes in the profession.

More than a year after Walgreens began collecting unused medications in all of its stores, it has added a Sharps' needle disposal system for customers' used needles.

Dose management tools used in the oncology and central pharmacies of a Maryland medical center have improved pharmacy workflow and reduced medication errors.

A recent analysis of data from the Nurses' Health Study showed a link between physical inactivity and incident idiopathic pulmonary embolism.

As the current generation of pharmacy owners retires, women are stepping up in greater numbers.

FDA has approved fidaxomicin and telaprevir.

A 10- or 12-hour work day. No meal break scheduled. No BREAK scheduled. What's a hungry pharmacist to do?

Medicaid formularies cost more than the WHO's Model List of Essential Medicines.

A growing number of concerned pharmacists and pharmacy owners have formed a coalition dedicated to exposing "widespread abuse and manipulation by PBMs."

The generics maven lays out his "tchotchkes" strategy for market domination.